This is my first time using dill. Why did I wait so long to try out this lovely herb, when it has such a clean and crisp taste? Maybe I’ve been too obsessed with my long-time love, rosemary, that I’ve turned a blind eye to the other herbs out there. But I’m glad I finally picked up a bunch of dill from the supermarket.

I understand that dill pairs well with fish dishes, potatoes, cream sauces, as well as mild cheeses. Maybe that’s why this Swedish Dill Bread turned out excellent. Pairing cream cheese, onions and dill, this trio produced the most wonderful aroma when the bread rolls were baking. The rolls turned out moist and soft, with the fresh scent of dill, sweetness from the onions and a mild cheese taste ‘in the background’.

I guess the only ‘grouse’ I have would be that I would prefer a more salty taste to them. But if you’re pairing these with smoked salmon(suggestion by the book’s author), or serving them with a bowl of hot comforting soup, then there’s no problem at all. Of course, the simplest way would be to slap some nice creamy butter on top, now that’s what I call indulgence.

Don’t forget to head over to Kalyn’s for a re-cap of this weeks’ posts. Coincidently, while writing this post, I hopped over to Sher’s blog(yes, I multi-task a lot :p), only to find out she had also baked two wonderful loaves of Cottage Cheese Dill Bread. Go check out her post too!

1) Mix softened cream cheese with chopped onions and blend well.2) Measure out 2 tbsp water from the 125ml and sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside for 5 mins, stir to dissolve yeast.3) In a mixing bowl, mix flour, salt, dill and whisk well. Make a well in the centre, and add in onion-cheese mixture, egg, oil, yeast solution, and the remaining water.4) Using the paddle attachment of the mixture, mix on low speed until the mixture starts to come together in a ball(if mixture seems too dry, add 1-2 tbsps more water). Switch to dough hook and knead dough on Speed 2 until soft and elastic, about 10 mins.5) Round the dough into a ball and place into an oiled bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.6) Punch dough down, then cover and rest for 10 minutes.7) Shape dough*. Cover with cling wrap and let rise until dough has risen to the top of the pan, about 45 minutes.8) Lightly sift some flour over the top(optional step). Bake in a pre-heated 180C oven for about 30-60 minutes(see *notes below) until golden brown. Turn the bread out onto a wire rack to cool.

* In the original recipe, the author uses a 1-kg capacity loaf tin, and baking time will be about 45-60 mins.For me, I divide the dough into 15 equal pieces, shape them into rounds, and fit 10 pieces into 8-inch round tin, with the remaining 5 pieces as individual rolls. Baking time is about 35 minutes.Looking at the dough, it should be able to fit two 8” by 4” loaf tins, just watch the baking time.

The above method is based on using a stand mixer. If you’re kneading by hand, at Step 4, mix everything with a wooden spoon to form a slightly stiff dough. Then turned onto a floured worktop and knead until smooth and elastic. Proceed as for Step 5 onwards.

Serve the warm rolls at the dining table.....and let everyone have fun pulling them apart, until the last roll left standing.

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comments:

Just beautiful. Dill is so photogenic, isn't it? This sounds very delicious, and you and Sher must be channeling each other because this week she has made a lovely bread also using dill. It reminded me that I need to plant some dill in my herb garden, since mine doesn't seem to have survived the winter.

I'm stomping my feet... I can't bake it right NOW (no dill on hand). You know when something just sounds too good I don't want to delay a second :Dmy pal, I got your e-mail reply *hug* I almost turn my medicine cabinet to a mini pharmacy :P today I can breath without much difficulty, so now am crying for "bread"!!!!!!

When I saw the pics of your fluffy bread rolls, i thought "i MUST try making these!" then when I read your blog entry, you could imagine the shock i felt when I realised it was from a book that I have! But the texture of your buns look better than that of the book's loaf form. I bought the book a few months ago, not realising until after a few shots at some recipes, that my oven has such uneven heating properties that I can't make successful loaves of bread. After reading about your bun version, i remembered that i have successfully made buns and things before, so i guess I could scale down all my bread recipes to make buns/rolls! so thanks for the idea!

loaves we check by knocking the base and listening out for a hollow sound - how can we tell with buns? (since we'd have to reduce the baking time...)

Many thanks for dropping by. Hope you'll have fun trying the recipes in this book.

For me, whether for loaves or buns, I insert a instant read thermometer to check for 'done-ness'. But in general, for buns, when the surface and bottom is a nice golden brown, it should be ready. Hope that helps :)

I made these buns yesterday for tea and they are sooo moreish! yumm If I had had any less self control, I would have eaten most of them by myself :P I remember reading on your blog that these buns aren't salty enough, so I added about 1/4-1/2 tsp more salt (but I don't think that actually made the bread salty enough anyway), and sprinkled some sea salt flakes on top, which REALLY REALLY brought out the flavours of the bread - I didn't even have to spread them with cream cheese, which was my original plan.

I baked them for the recommended 35 min, and found that most of the buns had a hard crust (this created a nice contrast with the soft interior, but is this right, or should it have been soft?), but a soft interior - it was 'spongey' but the texture of the middle was not as fluffy as that of the buns in your pictures though :( Do you know where I might have gone wrong? Could the dough have been too wet perhaps, since I added a bit more water? Or could it be that I let it rise for too long?:SUpon cooling, the bread firmed up considerably and became less fragrant (though still flavourful) - is this bread the type that's meant to be eaten warm, or was it in the way I made it that made it go hard quicker? Could it be that I baked it for too long? (I baked them for the full 35min to ensure they were cooked through)

Also, I noticed that you replaced the butter with olive oil - should I expect much change in texture if I try it with the butter next time? Ditto with the decreased qty of cream cheese and onion compared with the book. (would it be too cheesey and oniony if we follow the original qty?)

Thanks again for posting this recipe and for the bun idea! Hope you're well.

Yes, these rolls have a slightly hard crust when it's freh out of the oven. As for the texture, a few things could affect it, like whether the dough is kneaded sufficiently, rising time, baking time etc. SO its really difficult for me to pin-point right now, perhaps you'll need to trial and error to get all the conditions right.

On the rolls turning hard, because these do not contain any preservatives, its quite common for it to turn slightly hard the next day, a quick zap in the microwave for a few seconds shd do the trick. Yes, these are best served fresh and warm.

I haven't tried with the full quantity of cheese and butter and onion. But I believe you'll get a very rich bread in the end.